Daughters of the Moon
by moonshadowisnotdead
Summary: Seth's new defense trainer is nothing he expected- nor is her cold, detached persona.  Attempting to befriend her, Seth is recklessly dragged into her world- a world of magic and war.  Can he survive this new society, and fix his past wrongs?
1. Prologue

**FINALLY! After who knows how long, I have actually gotten around to writing my first Fablehaven fic! I'M SO EXCITED!**

**-ahem- Anyways, I know that this is only the prologue, and that it's kinda confusing, but bear with me and I promise it'll get better. Everything will be explained throughout the course of this story! **

**So, since this is my first fanfic for Fablehaven ever, as I said above, please, please, PLEASE comment! I have lots of stuff on my profile about what I do, and if there are any questions, please PM me…reviews make me happy, which makes me write faster!**

**Disclaimer- Visit my profile page.**

**Anyways, on with the prologue!**

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><p><em>All was quiet in the dark courtyard.<em>

_Walls of silver shone in the moonlight, large windows looking out into the large enclosure. Stone steps lead down to the soft grass that covered the ground, and flowers that bloomed only during the night were scattered across earth. Winding pathways lead to stone benches, intricately carved with Celtic symbols and swirling designs, and elaborate wind chimes hung from the tree branches. The trees themselves seemed to be laced with liquid silver, dripping down the bark and spreading across the leaves._

_No wind blew through those leaves, no night creatures moved in the blackness; nothing but the moon shone through the dense foliage overhead, dappling the ground with its light. The only sound that could be heard was that of water trickling softly into a nearby pool, but it was muffled by the surrounding trees. It wasn't until soft voices broke the silence that any form of life was conceived._

_"The Amulet has been missing for a thousand years. Any further searches for it will be in vain. I suggest we abandon the hope of finding it and turn to more pressing matters at hand." The speaker was male, and sounded regal in his manner, obviously accustomed to giving orders and having them followed._

_"And what matters are more pressing than the end of the world, young Myrth? The Amulet is the only key known to the Rilynnmitore that will open the Gates of Anea. Finding the Silver Moon is our utmost priority." This voice was smooth and dry, as ancient as the trees themselves, tired and ageless._

_"Keeping the Banniarnith at bay is more important than searching for something that will never be found! We cannot waste our time and our men for a matter as trivial and impossible as the Amulet! Even if we did manage to find it, it would be useless without the Auvrea!"_

_Something stirred in the darkness, heavy fabrics rustling against the leaves. A third voice spoke, elderly and feminine._

_"Peace, young one. Nothing is impossible or useless when it comes to affairs such as these. The Banni forces will not prevail against our Cyred. Send them out as you wish, but the searches for the Amulet will not stop until it is found and once again safely secured in our possession."_

_"…As you wish, Baequi." The first voice, the youngest, now sounded stiff and angered. Footsteps, the young man's footsteps, fell quickly as he strode heatedly from the courtyard. A few moments passed before the second voice, ancient and wry, spoke again._

_"He is right, you know. These searches for the Amulet are becoming hopelessly ineffectual. And its powers are unusable without the Auvrea and her Casali."_

_"And you know that the Gates of Anea will be inoperable until they are all found. All we can do is hold out against the Banni until the Amulet and its bearers are discovered." The woman's voice was calm and unyielding, trying to reassure her companion._

_"Holding out will not accomplish much at this point. Any eclipses may prove disastrous in the near future, and the Cyred are anxious to fight."_

_The elderly woman sighed, the thick cloth of her dress scraping across the ground as she walked away._

_"Then pray Mother Mitore will send us our Auvrea soon; or else our Rilynn shall fall."_

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><p><strong>BWAHAHA, IT MAKES NO SENSE! Well, to you guys. However, I promise I will try to upload as soon as possible, and I promise that Seth will be in the first chapter! Oh, and all those funky words I mentioned? Here are the meanings:<strong>

**Myrth- Honored (These are basically the Kings or Rulers.)**

**Rilynnmitore- House of the Moon **

**Anea- Night**

**Banniarnith- Holders of Fire (The House of the Moon's rivals.)**

**Auvrea- Blood**

**Banni- Holders (shortened version of Banniarnith)**

**Cyred- Warriors**

**Baequi- The Blessed (Even higher than the Rulers, they're pretty much a High Council.)**

**Casali- Herald of Shadows**

**Mother Mitore- Mother Moon (Their form of a goddess, who they pray to and honor.)**

**Rilynn- House (shortened way of saying Rilynnmitore)**

**Yes, I promise this is a Fablehaven fic, not some random thing I threw together…it all ties in with my storyline, don't worry. I hope you liked it, and PLEASE COMMENT! (You see the button? Click it.)**


	2. How It All Began

**Okay, here is the first chapter! Thank you to my reviewers, I truly wasn't expecting anything for the prologue that made no sense. I FEEL SO LOVED! This chapter is basically supposed to explain beforehand the reason Seth's grandparents decided that he needed training, so keep that in mind! **

**Anyways, as I promised, this has plenty of Seth in it, and makes more sense than the prologue did, so enjoy, and please read and review!**

"SETH! RUN BACK TO THE TRUCK AND GRAB MY POTIONS POUCH!"

Seth stepped back, his eyes wide and uncomprehending. This was supposed to be an easy mission. Get in, grab the guy, and get out. Giant scorpion men were _not _supposed to be guarding the entrance. Getting attack hadn't been on the agenda!

"_NOW, _SETH!"

Seth spun around, racing away from the raging battle. Sand whipped through his hair, tearing at his clothes and pulling him backwards. He lowered his head, narrowing his eyes against the tiny grains that threatened to cloud his vision. Where was the truck anyways?

Parked next to the foot of the steep, rocky mountain, the large white truck that Tanu had rented for the week stood patiently (in the same place Seth had last seen it, as a matter of fact). Seth skidded to a stop by the passenger's side, wrenching open the door and hauling up a large duffel bag.

He fumbled through the bag, tossing out clothes and shoes and other miscellaneous items in his hurry to find Tanu's potion pouch. Apparently the Samoan had decided to shove it into the _very bottom _of his baggage, (because god forbid somebody needed to actually _find _it) so now- was that a cowboy hat?

Seth raised an eyebrow at the rather squished looking baby-blue cowboy hat that he had just pulled out of the duffel bag, and then shrugged. Now was not the time- blackmailing Tanu could come later.

"WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?" Seth yelled desperately into the wailing wind. He could see clearly from here with the truck blocking him from the blowing sand, and caught a glimpse of Warren tackling a giant scorpion-man as it lunged at Vanessa. The strange creature hissed as it attempted to throw Warren off of its back, the sound high-pitched and rasping.

"THE GREEN ONE!" Tanu yelled back, dodging as another hybrid scorpion charged him.

Seth glanced down quickly before ripping out two large green bags, waving them frantically in the air.

"THEY'RE BOTH GREEN!"

"THE ONE THAT ISN'T FULL OF ROCKS!" Seth blinked before tearing open one bag. Sure enough, a stream of smooth gray pebbles bounded to the dirt, rolling around Seth's feet and under the truck.

Seth growled, and snatched up the remaining velvet carrier.

"Who keeps a bag of rocks? Nobody, that's who!" Seth threw the first bag to the ground angrily, slipping the strings of the second onto his wrist as he did so before throwing his arms into the air.

"Does anybody here agree with me?" He spat, moving to slam the truck door closed.

A sharp sound, scratchy and grating came from behind Seth, and he froze. Turning around slowly, he was met immediately with a rapidly approaching scorpion-man. His mind stopped, only two words flashing in neon lights across his brain. Oh crap.

"Except for you." He muttered unsteadily, stepping back shakily before diving into the truck. The legs of the creature dug into the sand, propelling it quickly towards Seth, who yanked the door shut just as it plowed into the side of the vehicle.

The truck rocked back onto two wheels, and Seth squeezed his eyes shut, heart pounding.

"Oh crap, oh crap, oh _crap_…"

An angry chittering came from outside as the mutant crossbreed realized that the door was closed, glaring furiously at Seth through the window.

Seth scooted hurriedly to the driver's side, fumbling for the keys, which hung from the rearview mirror. The creature outside skittered back a few steps, raising its giant tail to stab at the truck, just as Seth jammed the keys into the ignition and it rumbled to life.

"YES! Oh, thank God, I'm _not_ going to di-" His jubilant cry was cut short as the glass of the passenger side window exploded inwards. Seth cried out and twisted away, shielding his head with his arms, and winced as a few shards cut into his arms and shoulders.

Gasping for breath, Seth looked up; his eyes widened to see the mutant scorpion lurch back again, aiming its massive stinger at Seth. The half-man, half-arachnid glowered at Seth with its beady black eyes, scowling maliciously as he raised his tail higher.

Seth took a deep breath and closed his eyes, and just as the creature hissed in triumph- he slammed his foot on the gas.

The truck leapt forward, tripping up the scorpion-man as Seth was thrown back violently into his seat. With what he would have liked to call a maniacal laugh (but was probably more like a scream of terror), the vehicle barreled past the mutant hybrid.

With shaking hands, Seth grabbed the wheel, vehemently yanking it around and hurtling back to the scorpion-man. Seth's foot was an iron weight on the pedal, and he narrowed his eyes at the creature directly in front of the accelerating automobile.

With a yell, Seth braced himself, ducking his head and closing his eyes as the truck slammed headfirst into its surprised target.

The metal frame of the front of the vehicle crumpled as it collided with the hard outer shell of the scorpion-man, and Seth was brutally thrown forward before snapping back forcefully. Pain exploded throughout his entire body from the impact, and had it not been for the partial-invulnerability potion Tanu had made him drink beforehand, Seth was positive that the crash would have killed him.

Steel screeched against steel, glass shattered, tires exploded, and the creature shrieked from the collision, its giant legs scrabbling against the crushed hood of the truck, growing weaker and weaker before falling still. Seth opened his eyes halfheartedly, squinting in the sunlight before shoving limply at the damaged door. Three pairs of footsteps came running up, two light and quick, and the other heavy.

His entire body aching, Seth slid out of the vehicle, rubbing at his head. This was gonna hurt like hell in the morning. The wind had died down for the most part, and there were no more sounds of angry mutant scorpion-men that Seth could hear. But then again, he might just be deaf from the crash, so he blinked a few times, attempting to clear the black spots from his vision.

"Seth! What on Earth happened!" That was Vanessa, her voice shocked and worried. Warren skidded to a halt behind her, stepping forward to reach out to Seth. Tanu followed behind, his expression one of awe as he took in the sight of the truck. Warren's hand grabbed Seth by the shoulder, gently standing him upright.

"Are you alright? That just about rivaled James Bond in terms of a nasty crash."

A burning pain flared in that shoulder, and Seth flinched, smacking Warren's hand off. Warren blinked, taking a moment to register the cuts on Seth shoulder before looking down at his hand. Blood was smeared across the palm, and Warren took a deep breath.

"Don't freak out." Seth snapped, pointing a finger crabbily at Warren. "It's just a little cut. I'm not going to bleed to death." Warren nodded, relaxing visibly. Tanu stepped up, his face taking on a clinical look as he moved to examine the slashes.

"You're lucky." He observed, noting which cuts seemed the worst. "Had you not taken that potion I gave you earlier, you would most certainly be dead." Seth rolled his eyes, grimacing when the insolent move made his head spin.

"Tell me something I don't know."

Vanessa stepped forward. "Again, what happened here? Not to sound cruel, but you just trashed our only mode of transportation."

Seth glared at her, and then sighed. "I was getting his potion pouch." He gestured to Tanu. "And that thing came up and attacked me. So I jumped in the truck, drove away, turned around, and ran it over."

Everybody stared at his over-simplified explanation. Seth stared back.

"What? Would you have rather I tried to reason with it?"

Warren sighed, shaking his head. "Only you, Seth, only you." He muttered, more to himself than to Seth.

Seth growled, and then yelped as Tanu poked another cut. Seth stepped out of his reach, flicking the big Samoan's hand away. "Okay, okay, I get it! Jeez, just give me a Band-Aid, and I'll be fine. No need to worry!"

Vanessa turned to Warren, her expression incredulous. "Well then, now how do we get home? We have no car, we're in the middle of a desert, and trying to walk anywhere with Seth in this condition would just be plain stupid." Warren sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I don't know. We'll just…I'll figure something out."

Seth smacked his forehead. "Oh for the love of God, just use this!" Reaching a hand into his pocket, Seth pulled out his cell phone, miraculously not broken from the crash. Warren stared, and then grabbed the electronic device from his hand.

"Do we even get service out here?" Seth shrugged.

"You'll have to check, but we should. Um…it might help if you turn it on." Warren frowned, and Seth sighed, taking the cell phone from his grasp to click the On button before handing it back.

"Welcome to the 21st century, genius."

Warren glared, and then dialed the number to Fablehaven. Tanu jogged over to the demolished truck to grab a bandage for Seth's cuts as the phone rang; he rummaged through the bag that Seth had basically ripped apart in his haste to find the potion pouch.

Seth glanced at his wrist. The pouch was no longer there; it had to have fallen off in the chaos.

"Hey, Stan. It's Warren. We've, ah…run into a bit of a problem." Tanu came back over, bandages in hand, and Seth sighed, letting Tanu clean the cuts and wrap up his shoulders and arms.

"No, we're all fine. The mission was a bust anyways; guy cleared out a while ago by the looks of it. What's that? Well, there were a couple, um, guardians at the front gate…they weren't too impressed with us trespassing. " Seth rolled his eyes.

"That's the understatement of the year." He muttered under his breath, and Tanu looked at him sharply.

"Giant scorpion-men, by the looks of it. Yes, we're fine. The problem is though, our truck got trashed…yeah, Seth had to run one of them over, and now the whole front end is crushed. What? No, he's fine, just a little banged up. Tanu's potion did its job, don't worry."

Seth frowned. "Um, why do I get the impression that I'm being blamed for this? I did tell you that it was trying to _kill me_, right?" Tanu tightened a bandage around his arm, and Seth hissed in pain, glaring at the older man.

"Getting hurt makes you irritable, did you know that?" Seth resisted the urge to cross his arms and stick his tongue out.

"I'm pretty sure it makes everybody irritable."

"Most people would just be happy to be alive. Oh, and those gray stones you dumped out all over the ground back where the truck was parked?"

Seth looked up, tilting his head in confusion.

"That used to be in the bag? What about them?"

"You do know that they're each worth over a hundred dollars?"

Seth sighed. It figured.

**TADA! And thus concludes the first chapter. Gotta love Seth, right? To put it simply, Warren, Vanessa, Tanu, and Seth were on a mission to find a guy that was already gone when they got there. Seth was only allowed to come along because it was supposed to be safe, but then…you know what happened. **

**I hope you all liked it…please review! **


	3. Breaking News

**TWO-HOUR DELAY! WOOT! And then exams…bleh. Anyways, because of my late start, I have time to upload this before school!**

**I'M SO EXCITED! YOU GET TO MEET MY OC NEXT CHAPTER! You may hate her at first…but she gets better, I promise.**

**Anyways, ON WITH THE STORY! I tried to make Seth as Seth-like as possible in here, so please tell me what you think, and please review!**

Nobody said anything to Seth about the truck incident the entire way back to Fablehaven. Trask and Elise made the long drive out to where Warren, Vanessa, Tanu, and Seth waited, while Stan and Ruth stayed at home with Kendra and the others.

Seth knew that something was up. Throughout the whole five hours that he was cooped up in the SUV on the way back, barely three words were spoken to him. As it was, any questions he asked were answered brusquely, swift and evasive, if they were answered at all. Even the simple ones.

"Am I in trouble?"

"No."

"Are you telling the truth?"

"Yes."

"…Are you sure?"

"Yes."

Seth still didn't believe them. Trask wouldn't look at him, and whenever Seth managed to catch Elise's gaze, her eyes seemed to be full of an emotion Seth couldn't place. Pity? Disappointment? Curiosity? Anticipation? Interest? Maybe all of them.

He spent half of the ride staring out the window, pouting, a quarter of it scratching at the bandages wrapped around his shoulders, and the last quarter arguing with Tanu. Tanu had smeared some strange goop onto the bandages before covering up Seth's cuts; something that he claimed would make the wounds heal faster. Seth didn't believe him, but Tanu stated that the more it itched, the faster it was healing.

All in all, Seth was miserable.

The trees blurred past in the falling darkness, even though it was only five. Seth watched them uninterestedly, knowing that Warren kept glancing over at him worriedly, wondering why he was so silent. Seth wasn't one to sit still for five minutes, let alone five hours.

Seth didn't know why he was so calm either.

_I bet that goopy stuff Tanu put in these bandages was some sort of mind relaxant. _Seth grumbled to himself irritably. It was something that Tanu would do, after all.

He didn't know why nobody would tell him what was going on. If he wasn't in trouble, what was he in? He would rather he was in trouble than this strange sort of exclusion.

Turning sharply, Trask pulled into the Fablehaven driveway, the huge iron gates opening silently before them. Bumping along the gravel road made Seth's head spin and his arms tingle, and he scowled, pitying himself for the last time before he was home.

"And we're here!" Warren stated cheerfully, bouncing out of the car. "I hope Ruth has dinner ready, 'cause I'm _starving!_"

Vanessa glared at him. "Do you only ever think about your stomach?"

Warren grinned. "Whenever I'm not thinking about you, Vee." Vanessa's glare increased to a death ray before she turned and stomped up the steps to Fablehaven.

Seth snickered. Warren's jokes were the only thing that got under Vanessa's skin, and he enjoyed watching the two. He, Newel, and Doren had a bet circulating around on when Warren would finally ask her out, and so far Seth was winning.

Unbuckling his seatbelt, Seth threw open the door and hopped out, trying to decide which of his aching limbs to rub first, when he was suddenly trapped in a bear hug.

"Hi Gram." He gasped, struggling to escape without suffocating. "Don't worry, I'm fine. Warren wasn't lying when he said Tanu's potion worked."

"Tanu's potions always work, but Warren never said which potion you took. For all I knew, you could have taken a potion to breathe underwater, and it would have worked fine if you'd been underwater." She murmured, releasing Seth from her death grip to look at him in the eyes.

"I see you somehow managed to not bruise your face at all, despite the fact that you were in a car accident." She stated, raising an eyebrow. Seth grinned.

"Lucky for me, right? Wouldn't want this work of art to be damaged." Grandma smiled and rolled her eyes, shaking her head as Seth raced up the steps and into the house.

"Teenagers these days." She sighed.

"They never learn." Grandpa grumbled, watching Seth trip his way into the kitchen.

"Stan, he's only fourteen. He'll learn quickly enough." Grandma admonished. Grandpa shook his head.

"He should have learned after Zzyzx."

"Stan, you can't-" Grandma Sorenson was interrupted by Warren calling out from inside.

"Ruth, is dinner ready? We haven't eaten since breakfast!" Grandma sighed, turning to follow Stan into the house.

"It'll be on the table in ten minutes!" she called back, bustling into the kitchen. She stopped for a moment, looking back at her husband.

"Will you tell them?"

Stan rubbed a hand over his chin. "At dinner." Ruth nodded, looking slightly upset.

"Wait until dessert. Let him get settled in. We don't want to spring it on him when he just barely got back." Stan hesitated, and then nodded.

"You know it has to be done, Ruth. We should have been starting this earlier than now." Ruth nodded slowly.

"That doesn't mean Seth isn't going to enjoy it."

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><p>Dinner was spaghetti and meatballs, and as usual, it came out wonderful. Seth ate twice as much as he normally did, nearly rivaling Warren in terms of food consumption.<p>

"My goodness boys, slow down or you're going to pop!" Grandma laughed, amazed as Seth fought Warren for the last piece of garlic bread.

"Yeah, Seth, you're gonna pop!" Warren snickered, snatching the bread out of Seth's hand. Seth slapped him upside the head before the older man could take a bite, and seized the food back, cackling.

"You're not still growing like I am, you big cow!"

Warren lunged at Seth, and the younger boy held the bread out of reach, smacking away Warren's hands. "No! It's mine! MINE!"

From behind Seth, Tanu swiped the garlic bread, taking a huge bite out of it before walking away. "T's ine 'ow." He mumbled around the food, his words unintelligible. Both Seth and Warren stared after him, eyes wide and stricken.

"How _could _he?" Seth whispered dramatically, pressing one hand over his chest. Warren snorted.

"Drama queen." Seth stuck his tongue out, and Warren copied him.

"Boys." Grandma warned, eying them both dangerously as she went into the kitchen to get dessert. As soon as she left, a miniature slapping fight ensured, ended by an annoyed Kendra.

"You guys are both so immature." She sighed, rolling her eyes. Seth made a face at her.

"Sure thing, Fairy Princess." Seth got up, going to clear his plate, and bowed insultingly. His sister narrowed her eyes, and Seth laughed.

"Live a little, will you sis?" He called over his shoulder as he passed through the entryway and into the kitchen.

Grandma smiled at him as he placed his plate into the sink, and handed him a still-warm apple pie.

"I'll carry out the ice cream." She said, walking over to the fridge. Seth grinned, relishing the scent of apples and cinnamon as he sauntered over to the table again. Warren's eyes followed the pie excitedly, his foot tapping under the table as Seth set the dessert onto the potholder.

Grandpa walked in just as Grandma came out with the ice cream, and sniffed the air appreciatively.

"It smells wonderful, Ruth." Grandma smiled.

"Thank you dear. Will you cut it?" Grandpa nodded, and picked up the knife. Seth bounced in his seat, eager to get his piece.

As soon as everybody had a piece of pie and a scoop of ice cream, Grandpa cleared his throat. Seth paused mid-bite, looking up at his grandfather.

"As everybody is present right now, I would like to go over what happened in the Quisp Desert." He announced, making sure to not glance in Seth's direction.

Seth took a deep breath, suddenly losing his appetite. He set down his fork quietly, waiting for some sort of punishment. At least now they were actually acknowledging him instead of ignoring him. Seth guessed that Grandpa Sorenson had told Trask and Elise to not mention anything to him before they got back- after all, Grandpa liked to be the one to give the speeches.

"Now, nobody is to blame for the failure of the mission itself- or for anything else that may have occurred during the trip." Warren glanced quickly at Seth, looking to see what the younger boy's reaction was, a single eyebrow raised in questioning.

Seth frowned. If he wasn't in trouble, what was the point of Grandpa's lecture? To go over the catastrophe that they were?

"However, what did happen at the desert has brought something to my attention; something that I should have acknowledged long ago."

A cold sense of dread filled Seth's chest. Was this about his shadow charmer abilities? His grandparents hadn't seen any problem with so far. Was this it?

"Seth, Kendra- the Knights of the Dawn has arranged to give you each a personal trainer."

Oh, he was dead. They thought that his dark side was going to take over, and now they were going to lock him up. Goodbye Grandma's apple pie, and hello inescapable prison cell. He was doomed to rot in- wait. What?

"Personal _trainers_?" Seth blurted out, confused by the sudden change of events. "So you're not sending me off to a dungeon because of the truck incident?"

The table burst into laughter, and even Grandpa smiled.

"No, Seth, your involvement in the 'truck incident' as you so aptly put it will not have us sending you off to a prison any time soon. In fact, that incident should be considered a mixed blessing; the Quisp Desert mission going wrong is what got me thinking about this."

His face turned serious once more, Grandpa acknowledged the table in front of him.

"As you all know, the possibility of Seth and Kendra becoming Eternals within the next two to four years is extremely high. Although there have been other volunteers, these two's differing abilities would make them stronger than any other in their position. Therefore, because of that, we, or Ruth and I alongside many others, have found it necessary to appoint mentors to Seth and Kendra to prepare them for this new world."

It took Seth a moment to comprehend his grandfather's words, but that was all it took. "_Mentors_? As in, teachers?" He hated teachers- and they hated him. It was a simple relationship, and not one that Seth wanted to endure ever again.

Grandpa Sorenson tipped his head in Seth's direction. "Yes Seth, teachers. Trainers, instructors, coaches, whatever you want to call them. They will be overseeing the full extent of your defense training."

"Defense training? They'll be teaching us how to fight?" Awesome. Seth had always wanted to learn how to use a flamethrower.

"How to fight, when to fight, where to fight; however, their main objective will be to teach you how to escape any situation, and how to keep yourself alive and hidden against anything or anyone."

Seth frowned. That didn't sound like what he was hoping for. He didn't want to run _away. _ He wanted to be a useful part of any mission. He wanted to be able to kick somebody's butt to Paris, not hide in some bushes while other people had all the fun.

"If you wanted to teach me to run away, just sign me up for track! Can't we just have some ancient Kung Fu master teach us all of the ways of the world? Or a ninja? I like ninjas!"

Kendra sighed. "Seth, you should just be happy that someone's taking the time to train us in the first place, and on such a schedule. I have only two years to learn this!" She turned to Grandpa Sorenson. "Who's coming to train us? And when will they be here?"

Grandpa Sorenson nodded to her appreciatively, pleased with her acceptance. Seth rolled his eyes.

"Thank you Kendra. Maybe some of your easy-going good will can be transferred to your brother…" Seth caught his sister's eye and stuck his tongue out. She hmphed, and looked pointedly away. Grandpa Sorenson sighed.

"Anyways, because of the drastic differences between the powers that you two have inherited, you will each have a different trainer, one that is highly skilled and able to adapt to your needs or preferences. They will both have different views, different styles, different opinions on what you need and what you don't need, and both of you are going to _follow their lead, _no questions asked." Grandpa looked at Seth, raising a single eyebrow. "That means no running off, no pointless questions, no lying, no sneaking around, and absolutely _no breaking the rules._ Are we clear?"

Seth was still hung up on the ninja thing. "Are you sure there are no free ninja's around? Sure you can't see them, but they'd be a great teacher for me- ninja's and shadow charmers would go hand in hand, right?"

"_No_ ninjas, Seth. And no Kung Fu master, no zombies, no wizards, no mercenaries, and _no _dragons, just a single mentor to prepare you for possibly becoming an Eternal. Are we clear?"

"Zombies would be terrible teachers." Seth muttered mutinously. "I don't get why-"

"Are. We. Clear?" Seth sighed. Even after the defeat of Zzyzx, nobody would ever listen to him. Seth do this, Seth do that, Seth, no arguing, Seth, be good, Seth, why can't you be more like Kendra? Some things never changed.

"Fine. Teacher it is." Seth grumbled, picking up his plate and trudging to the kitchen. Just because he had to do it didn't mean he had to like it.

Besides, Grandpa had said no breaking the rules…but he'd never mentioned _anything _about manipulation, had he?

Seth smiled.

**Lol, Seth is such an evil little monkey...I love him. Please remember to review, feedback makes me a very happy little person!**


	4. Arrival

**Okay, first of all, I am sooo sorry for not updating for forever! I got really busy with my semester change and meeting new people and whatnot. This may be kinda short, but I just wanted to get it out there before I completely forgot about it…**

**Speaking of forgetting, thank Nostalgia's My Best Friend for reminding me! She's kind of the reason this is up now…otherwise I would have kept putting it off, so thank you!**

**Anyways, you guys finally get to meet my OC! You probably won't like her at first…but she gets better I promise. If you're going to comment on any chapter, please comment on this one, because I'm really kinda nervous about it…**

**Please enjoy!**

"What about animal crackers dipped in cheese sauce? Do they like those? Please say no."

"SETH MICHAEL SORENSON, for the _LAST TIME_, that is ENOUGH questions!" Grandpa exploded, throwing up his hands in irritation. "I have NO idea who your trainer is going to be, what they'll be teaching you, what they're favorite band is, or whether they like Pringles or not! All I know is that they will be coming within an hour!"

Seth opened his mouth to protest, but then Grandma stopped him with a single look. "Your grandfather is right, Seth. Just _try_ to be patient and you'll know everything as soon as they get here."

Seth pouted, crossing his arms as both of his grandparents left the room, exchanging a look of exasperation that Seth knew he wasn't supposed to see. How did they know that they could trust the mentors being sent if they didn't even know who they were?

Warren sat up on the couch, tugging out a pair of earplugs. "Have you finally stopped badgering them for information on your mentor?"

"For the time being." Seth grumbled, leaning against the wall behind him. Warren sighed in relief.

"Finally. You do realize that no matter how much you annoy them, they're not going to budge, right?" Seth rolled his eyes.

"Yeah. They're not the type to back down once a decision has been made, but I can still make them regret it." Warren shrugged.

"Whatever. It's your head." Seth glared at him as the older man as he walked out of the room, throwing his next comment over his shoulder as he left. "Still, if I were in your place and ten years younger, I'd be doing the same thing."

Seth snorted. "Yeah, right. If you were in this position right now, you'd still be doing this, regardless of your age and supposed maturity."

"Details, details!" came Warren's innocent reply from the hallway.

Seth grinned before standing up straight to go find his sister. Maybe they had told her something; they always passed on news to her first.

Kendra was in the attic, having left almost immediately after Seth started bugging everybody. She lay on her stomach on her bed, absorbed in the book she was currently reading, her feet crossed in the air.

"Whatcha reading?" Kendra jumped slightly at her brother's sudden appearance, looking over her shoulder to see Seth standing in the doorway. "Actually, never mind. I don't want to know."

Kendra rolled her eyes. "Typical. Have you stopped pestering everybody, or did you come up here to annoy me too?"

Seth wandered over to his bed and flopped down onto the mattress, kicking off his shoes. "Nah. I just wanted to see if they had told you anything."

"Actually they did." Seth brightened, looking over at his older sibling. "They said to be patient and wait until they arrived." Seth growled into his pillow.

"Not funny." Kendra grinned.

"Not funny to you. You're just too anxious and hotheaded to sit still for a while."

"I am not hotheaded." Seth muttered, rolling over onto his back to stare up at the ceiling.

"You're stubborn too." Kendra sighed, returning to her book. "Just try and find something to pass the time, okay?"

Seth groaned, and dragged himself off of his bed, trudging over to the toy box. Plowing his way through the chest of toy soldiers and dolls, he grabbed out a pair of plastic dinosaurs, a T-Rex and a stegosaurus.

He stared at them for a moment before a sudden idea struck him, and he grinned. _Lightbulb!_

The door to the attic opened, and Seth glanced over, seeing Warren out of the corner of his eye. His older cousin had a strange look on his face, but Seth ignored it. Warren always had a strange look on his face. He claimed it was a smolder, but Seth didn't believe him.

Positioning the dinosaurs on the lid of the chest, Seth crouched by it and moved the stegosaurus forward.

"This is a fertile land…and we shall call it…_This Land!_" he intoned seriously, assuming the most regal manner he could before switching to the T-Rex's perspective.

"I think we should call it _Your Grave!_" he squawked, feigning an evil voice.

Moving back into the stegosaurus' character he gasped, "Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!", and then turned once again to the T-Rex.

"Bwahahaha! Mine is an evil laugh! Now die!" Picking up both dinosaurs, Seth slammed them against each other, miming an attacking T-Rex as he faked a cry of pain for the stegosaurus.

"Oh no! Oh, Dear Lord in Heaven! Oh, you evil-"

Kendra slammed her book shut, twisting herself around to glare in aggravation at her younger brother.

"Seth, what on _Earth-" _

Warren coughed abruptly. Both siblings turned.

"_What?_"

Warren nodded behind him, and Seth craned his neck around to try and see what Warren was gesturing to.

"Seth, Kendra, I'd like you to meet your new mentors."

Kendra's eyes widened, her mouth falling open into a little 'o' shape as she realized that they had all seen her stoop low enough to bicker with her little brother. She hopped off of her bed quickly, but Seth was faster.

Scrambling rather ungracefully to his feet, Seth bounced over to Warren, chattering happily. "Oh, _finally_! You guys took forever, you know that? How did you get here, horse and buggy?"

A somewhat young looking woman came into his view as he ran over, standing on Warren's right. She was dressed simply in jeans and a white t-shirt, her brown hair tied back in a ponytail. She was taller than Seth, even though he had recently undergone a growth spurt, and was now at least a few inches taller than his five foot three sister. Her eyes were a pretty warm gray color, watching Seth interestedly.

"Seth, Kendra, this is Ashlee Pontius- she's fairy-struck, so she'll be Kendra's trainer."

Seth stepped back to allow his sister to move up shyly. "Hello." She whispered faintly, looking nervous. Ashlee smiled kindly, exposing white teeth. Seth tried to look behind her and see his mentor, but both Ashlee and Warren blocked his view.

"Hi, Kendra. I've heard so much about you; being able to teach you is a real honor." Kendra flushed at the praise.

"Thanks, Miss Pont-"

"No, no, no, call me Ashlee, please. It'll just be so much easier for us in the long run." Kendra grinned, already looking at ease with her new mentor.

"Okay." Warren cleared his throat.

"Well, this is fantastic! Ashlee, Kendra, you can go downstairs to talk if you want to; Seth, your mentor is…_was_…right here."

"Your little play with the dinosaurs was amusing, really." Seth spun around, barely managing to hold in the rather unmanly squeak of surprise as a girl's voice sounded behind him.

Warren spluttered. "How did you get over there? I didn't even notice!" Underneath the hood that was hiding most of her face from view, Seth could see part of a distant smile as his teacher sat calmly on Kendra's bed a few feet away from Seth.

"That was the point. Besides, you were absorbed with the others." Seth recovered from his shock, and took a step forward.

"Oh man, you have _got _to teach me that!" The girl turned her head to him, her arms crossing as she studied him. Seth could barely make out the vague shape of her hair and eyes underneath her hood, but couldn't decipher what colors they were or any other distinguishing features of her face. He tilted his head in confusion.

"_I'll_ decide what I teach you and what I don't. My name is Tialuna. Remember that, and we'll get along fine." Turning to Warren, she crossed her arms over her chest, ignoring Seth's confused stare. "It's come to my understanding that there will be a meeting of some sort tomorrow morning to discuss the training arrangements?"

Warren nodded. "Um, yeah, Stan and Ruth will go over the layout of the preserve and what needs to be accomplished and…all of that stuff."

The girl nodded brusquely, straightening the brown leather vest that she wore over her long-sleeved green shirt. "I will arrive at dawn to meet with the caretakers. Until then, I will make my own camp away from the main house."

"You mean you're going to stay in the woods? But it's not safe out there!" Seth blurted out. The girl turned to him, with what looked to be a slight smile shadowed under her hood.

"Trust me; there is little that will prove dangerous to someone of my status." With that, she turned and walked out, brushing past Warren, who offered little resistance.

Even after the door to the attic shut, the two boys stared after her, eyes wide. Warren cleared his throat, looking vaguely unsettled.

"Well, she's…um, very dedicated, isn't she?" Seth snorted.

"Dedicated isn't exactly the word I would use, but yeah, sure. Whatever." Warren shrugged.

"So she's blunt. And tough. And practical. I'm sure you two will get along fine."

"If she doesn't kill me, yeah. Or I don't poison her." Seth glared at the door. It figured that his sister got the cool teacher, the _nice_ one.

"Seth, she is a creature of the night. Practically every one of them is pretty impersonal- nearly the entire world is prejudiced against them for who they are. Sure _you're_ a statistical anomaly, but you can't expect her to come in here and trust you right off the bat, can you?"

Seth sighed.

"No." he muttered, following his older cousin down the stairs to get ready for dinner. "But I still don't like her."

**Okay, giant box of cookie dough to anybody that gets the reference to one of the best TV shows that ever ran! It's pretty obvious, so…I just wanted to say, I don't own anything about that TV show. Except for a sweatshirt, but it was a gift (and it's a gift shop item, so there!). I know it may not be exact, but, I'm paranoid about plagiarism. **

**Again, as I said above, this chapter is the major kick-off to the rest of the story, so please comment! I really want to know what you thought of this chapter, whether it's good or not (though positive reviews are preferable). Any tips would be really helpful!**

**Thanks for reading!**


	5. Training

**Thank you everybody for reviewing…you guys make me happy. And I am SO SO SO SO SORRY for not uploading sooner…I was sick, then there was no internet, and then I went to Italy (AMAZING-NESS!)…so yeah. You get the point. Anyways, hopefully I can upload a lot more often now that there are no snowstorms to knock out my internet…or wonderful authentic Italian pizzas to distract me…**

**Anyways, thank you all for responding to my OC, who I promise will get better…hope you all like this chapter! Please review!**

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><p>"No, no, no! Swing from the <em>elbow<em>, not the shoulder! You're not listening!"

Seth glared at his teacher, resisting the urge to scream in frustration. "I don't _want _to swing from the elbow! Swinging from the shoulder feels stronger!"

Tialuna glared right back at him, her oddly colored violet eyes dark in the sunlight. "It _is _stronger, but it's also much slower! You're aiming for speed, not for strength!"

Seth gritted his teeth, stabbing his sword into the defenseless grass where it stuck, wobbling slightly. He didn't _want _that, not right now.

"What if I would rather aim towards strength, huh? What would you say then?" he snapped, his eyes narrowly staring her down.

"Well, _obviously _you would want to achieve strength over speed! Every male your age wants to, but this isn't _about _want! In this world, speed is much more useful than brute strength- strength can easily be used against you, whether by magical spells or by simple bodily manipulation, it doesn't matter. Speed, on the other hand, gives you the upper hand over both!"

"If you have strength in both physical fighting skills _and _magical stuff, you don't _need _speed!"

"In some circumstances, that could be correct, but you do not _have _this strength in either field at the time!"

Seth pointed accusingly at Tialuna, his finger stabbing the air in front of her. "But if you teach me fighting styles that deal with strength, then I _will _gain that! You're just trying to teach me stuff to do with speed because you don't wa_nt _to teach me styles of strength! Do you even _know_ how to fight with strength instead of speed?"

Tialuna glared right back at him, her expression becoming increasingly more furious. "Are you saying that because I'm smaller, I can't fight stronger opponents as effectively?"

Seth groaned, rubbing his forehead with the back of his hand. "Okay, look, if this is going to turn into some ridiculously sexist conversation that _I'm _at fault for-"

"Because you're absolutely right, Seth! Size means a _lot _in a battle, and I'm at the _obvious_ disadvantage!"

Seth blinked. That wasn't expected.

Tialuna sighed, her anger slowly dissipating, and sheathed her sword. "Look, you're grandparents asked for me here to teach you how to _survive._ Not to teach you to fight, per say, but to teach you enough to _not_ get yourself killed. Fighting strength against strength is all well and good _if_ you're strong enough for it, which you are not _yet._"

Seth opened his mouth to protest, and Tialuna narrowed her eyes until he closed it and looked away mutinously.

"_Yet_, Seth, _yet_! You're young, Seth, and still have years before you're fully grown! Your strength _will _come with time, I promise, but for now, speed is your advantage. Later on, when you're capable of physical force stronger than now, you can learn the tactics of pure strength in a fight _alongside _the skills of speed that you're gaining now. At that point, you'll be the most powerful in a fight- you'll have the knowledge of both fields to utilize!"

Seth crossed his arms petulantly, scowling at the ground. He knew that she was right. He didn't like it.

"Look, that'll be enough for today, alright? Just think about everything, remember the moves I taught you, and be back here tomorrow at sunrise."

And with that, Tialuna turned around, grabbing her jacket from the tree branch she had hung it off of as she passed. Seth made a face at her receding figure, and then groaned at the thought of waking up early again the next morning. He'd barely managed to accomplish it this morning, and that was _with_ his grandmother storming up the stairs to yell at him.

With a sigh, Seth yanked his sword out of the ground, wiping the dirt off carefully before sheathing it. The weapon was from Warren, something that he'd had lying around since it served no use to him anymore. His older cousin had given it to him as a present, with the advice to try and _not_ cut his face off. So far, Seth's face was still intact.

The clearing where Seth and Tialuna practiced was a ways into the woods, but close enough for Seth to walk back to the house in fifteen minutes, tops. That was the agreement between Tialuna and Seth's grandparents- they didn't want him wandering around the woods 'exploring' like he always did. As a matter of fact, it had taken some convincing on Tialuna's part to allow them to let Seth train that far into the woods- there had been a long discussion between Seth's caretaker and his grandparents in Grandpa's office, and by the looks on their faces when they came out of it, they still weren't happy about the arrangement.

At this time of the day, the sun was at its highest point, and it shone through the leaves of the trees above Seth as he trudged back home. There was a simple little path; nothing more than flattened grass and small plants from him walking back and forth from the house to the clearing. It was only his third day training with his new mentor, who he now knew as unsympathetic, challenging, _utterly _humorless- practically everything Seth was not. Adjusting to the changes both in his schedule and his overall life would take a while, and yet Tialuna had given him no time whatsoever- she had popped up and settled in as though she'd been there for years.

Seth growled and kicked at a nearby rotting stump, which later proved to be completely _not _rotten. A yelp of pain escaped him, and he stumbled back a few steps, his foot now throbbing.

Apparently even the forest itself was against him.

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><p>It took Seth nearly twenty minutes to get back to the house, mainly because of his injured foot and the fact that he somehow managed to trip over every rock, stick, and nonexistent object there was in the woods- and when he stomped up the steps of the porch, his grandfather was there to meet him.<p>

"You're late."

"By five minutes!"

"In which time you could have been frivoling around with those immature satyrs you call your friends! You could have been-"

Seth held up a hand to signal his grandfather to stop. "Okay, first of all, frivoling? What are you, King Arthur? And secondly, they a_re _my friends; I don't just call them that to irritate you! And thirdly- it was five minutes!"

"The agreement between us was that it would take you fifteen minutes _alone _to walk back from your practice sessions in the woods, and no more than that!" Grandpa crossed him arms over his chest, staring down at Seth as the younger boy pointed at him judgmentally.

"Problem with that logic is, you never made me agree with a_nything_. As a matter of fact, you discussed absolutely nothing with me before setting me up with a mentor, nor did you let me in on any conversations about the standards by which I would be trained! _Tialuna _agreed that I would be back in fifteen minutes, not me!"

Seth took a deep breath after his rant, and fell silent, watching his grandfather critically. Grandpa stared at him, his eyes wide and somewhat confused before sighing and shaking his head.

"We'll talk more about this at dinner."

Seth grinned, resisting the urge to bounce up the steps, and raced into the attic room where he and his sister stayed. Every bad part of the day that had happened to him yet instantly faded away, immediately being overpowered by the feelings of satisfaction and superiority.

He'd won his first argument against an adult. He'd walked into the dispute at fault, and had turned the tables on someone much older, much wiser, and much more experienced. He'd manipulated his way into putting his grandfather at fault instead of himself.

Seth flopped onto his bed, a happy sigh escaping him as his spirits soared.

It was a good day.

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><p>Dinner came much faster than Seth would have liked, as he knew that the outcome of the meal would ultimately end in him once again agreeing to something he didn't want to agree to. It was different arguing with one person- arguing while in the presence of half a dozen other people all on your opponent's side tended to push things a bit out of your favor. Seth knew this, and was not looking forward to being at blame for the whole issue- he was still happy about winning one argument. This upcoming quarrel was bound to diminish his smugness, not to mention ruin whatever self-esteem that was gained from being in the right for once.<p>

Seth lay on his bed, staring up at the ceiling as he contemplated the most likely course of action that would take place at the dinner table. His grandfather was smart- he wasn't going to bring up his and Seth's argument first thing. No, he would wait, perfectly calm, and make Seth squirm with the apprehension. But that wasn't going to happen. Grandpa would be expecting Seth to be anxiously awaiting the disagreement- he wouldn't expect Seth to be acting perfectly natural. In this situation, the best course of action that Seth could think of would be to throw Grandpa off- if he had to adjust, it would make his response time slower, his arguments weaker, and give Seth the upper hand.

"What're you doing?"

Seth shot off the bed with a screech, tripped over a toy soldier and fell into the curtains with a thud. Kendra, who was standing in the doorway, watched the entire thing with one eyebrow raised.

"Well, that was graceful." Seth glared at his older sister, trying to disentangle himself without ripping something.

"Y'know, there's this newfangled idea called knocking- I've heard it comes in handy for a _lot _of things. Maybe you should try it?" Kendra rolled her eyes, and walked over to help him.

"There's also this thing called feet- you're supposed to use them to, you know, not trip over everything in the room?" Seth stuck out his tongue.

"I'd like to see you do any better." Kendra shook her head, a small smile crossing over her lips as she lifted the last curtain away from Seth and tied it up.

"Right, because I would _so _be spastic enough to launch myself off of my bed to trip over something four feet away and get twisted in something that I'm nowhere near close to?"

"I am not spastic!"

Kendra laughed as Seth stood up, glaring at her. "So you say!"

Seth, who had nothing intelligent to say to that, stuck his tongue out again. Kendra grinned.

"You know, this is nice."

"What, you insulting me, or me falling over?" Seth grumbled, straightening his shirt.

"No, just bickering with you. I mean, it's been three days since we've really talked to each other, what with our new trainers and stuff…" she trailed off, looking down at the ground. Seth looked at his hands awkwardly as they both fell silent.

"Yeah, so, uh…how's that going for you?" Seth mumbled, suddenly finding it more than a bit depressing that he and his sister hadn't been arguing lately. Wasn't that the whole point of siblings anyways?

Kendra brightened immediately with the prospect of blabbing about her training, and Seth groaned inwardly. "It's great! I mean, Ashlee's awesome, and I'm learning so much…she's really nice too, and she totally gets what I need without me even asking! She's even offered to help me understand some of my fairy-kind powers!"

Seth sneezed. Kendra sighed.

"Charming."

Seth laughed at her expression, and wandered over to his bed to jump up. "Sorry. I guess I'm allergic to idealistic mushy people."

Kendra raised an eyebrow. "Do you even know what idealistic means?"

"I figured that the mushy part just about summed it up."

Kendra shook her head in amusement, her amber colored hair framing her face as it fell out of its loose pony-tail. "Figures. Anyways, Grandma sent me up here to tell you that dinner's ready."

Seth took a deep breath. Time to set his plan into action. He would lose this argument most definitely, but not without saying his part. Not without showing that he was capable of more than pure idiocy. Not without unnerving his grandfather with his lack of anxiousness.

"I'll be right down."

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><p><strong>So, does everybody see what's happening here? Seth's starting to show that he's not some immature, brainless kid- he's beginning to actually win his arguments through rational reasoning and factual evidence. It always bothered me in the books how Seth was immediately classified as irritating and irresponsible, while Kendra was perfect- throughout the course of this story, I'll be slowly showing how he's grown in a psychological sense; other characters will get confused because Seth's going to be getting better and better at manipulating them and getting his way, but he'll never be breaking the rules, since he'll somehow subconsciously get their permission without them knowing. <strong>

**Can you see how his thoughts are getting more and more intelligent and observant? How he's understands what's most likely going to happen in the future because of his actions, and how he takes that knowledge to further manipulate? I'm doing that on purpose. Oh, and on a second note, I'm really not trying to make Grandpa Sorenson sound evil or annoying in any way- it's just how Seth is thinking.**

**Oh, how I love the little shadow charmer. Hopefully I can keep him in character, and not make him to evil-sounding; he's not turning evil, trust me, just beginning to understand the ways of the world. He'll be staying a mischievous, adorable, spastic monkey, don't worry. If you have any advice for me on keeping him in character, it would be greatly appreciated!**

**Anyways, enough of that. A big thank-you to AndAPartridgeInAGrapeTree, Nostalgia's My Best Friend, LavenderQuetzal, sheldon2.0, Ryzxn, and randomreader for reviewing! You guys rock my socks **

**Okay, and just so everybody knows, if somebody reviews and doesn't have their PM thingy activated, I've decided that I'm just going to answer those comments in my A/N. So, since only two people didn't have their PM's activated, here goes…**

_**sheldon2.0- Thanks so much for reviewing, and I'm glad you like it so far! Hopefully you're not ready to kill me with how long it took for me to update…sorry about that. And I took your idea into account, so I'll see what I can do! **_

_**randomreader- Thanks for reviewing! Glad you like it, hopefully you liked this chapter too! And I'm glad that you liked Seth's trainer…she'll be getting even better as the story progresses, so you're in luck!**_

**See you guys for the next chapter! Please R&R!**


	6. Everybody

**Okay, hi everybody! Sorry about taking a while to update, but at least it's not as long as last time… However, school is only a month away from getting out, so that means that all my teachers are cramming, so there will most likely be longer waits for you guys on my updates…sorry about that. Only a little bit left, and then you have me all to yourselves for the summer!**

**So, thanks to everybody who reviewed; and to all the people who read, but didn't review…thanks, but please review? It'd make my day, I promise!**

**Anyways, without any further ado, I give you…Chapter Five!**

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><p>Seth's plan was to unnerve his grandfather with his lack of apprehension so that his elder would slip up and give Seth the advantage on the metaphorical battlefield. He had spent nearly an hour thinking out possible maneuvers, things to say, points to prove- to say that Seth was well-prepared was an understatement.<p>

However, to say that his plan actually_ went _according to plan…was an even bigger understatement.

It took the fourteen year old boy nearly ten minutes to gather his thoughts, rehearsing what he had thought through to make sure that he played his part in the upcoming argument believably. Rehearsing included pacing around the room muttering to himself under his breath, and then nearly jumping out of his skin when his grandmother hollered up the stairs at him to get down there- but regardless of that, Seth knew he was ready.

Or at least that was what he kept telling himself as he bounced down the stairs to the kitchen.

"Seth! Look at yourself! Did you wash up after training at _all_?"

Seth looked down at himself, taking in the dirt-smeared t-shirt and jeans. "Uh…no."

"And your hands! Don't tell me you were expecting to eat with those, Mister!"

Once again, Seth looked down at himself, and scrutinized his hands. Grass stains colored his palms green, and mud was caked under his nails and between his fingers.

"…Apparently not." He muttered, allowing his grandmother to push him over to the sink.

"Wash up, quickly now!" Grandma bustled back over to the counter-top, picking up a steaming hot plate and handing it over to Warren, who was eyeing the cake that was obviously for dessert.

"Don't even think about it, Warren." Grandma chided, looking sternly at Warren. Warren pouted, and trudged out of the kitchen to set the dish on the table.

Seth turned on the sink, and yelped at icy cold water flooded out and over his hands. He glared at the sink, and adjusted the knobs.

"So, has your training been going well, dear?" Seth blinked at his grandmother's inquiry.

"What? Oh! Oh, yeah, it's great…" he trailed off, and grabbed the soap dispenser to keep his hands busy. Grandma turned around to look at him, and he avoided her gaze. How was he supposed to tell her that his mentor was a demon sent from Mars that wanted to kill him?

Seth didn't expect that it would be taken well.

"Well, I'm glad you think that way, because we invited everybody to dinner tonight."

"Wonderful, wonderful…um, who's everybody?"

Seth turned to look, and was met with the empty kitchen.

"…Okay then." He mumbled, and reached for the towel. Maybe she meant that everybody was actually coming to tonight's dinner. Normally there were always one or two people that missed dinner- whether it was Dale or Grandpa being caught up in their work, or Tanu off exploring, or Warren and Vanessa on a mission, it didn't matter. Dinners with everybody in their makeshift Fablehaven family was rare. Maybe tonight was one of the few where everybody was present.

As Seth walked into the dining room, where everybody was moving around the table, he saw that he had been right. Everybody that lived on the Fablehaven preserve for more than half the year was passing plates back and forth, distributing platters, taking food out of bowls. Seth smiled. It was nice, seeing all the people he loved in one place.

There was Warren, flirting with Vanessa as he dumped a heaping spoonful of mashed potatoes onto his plate- Tanu, who was laughing boisterously at something Dale had said- Grandpa, who was engaged in a heated discussion with Ashlee and Tialuna- Grandma, who was serving Kendra a-

Seth did a double take. Ashlee and Tialuna?

So _that _was everybody.

"What're _you _doing here?" he blurted out, pointed accusingly at his mentor. Both Ashlee and Tialuna turned to stare at him, and Seth waved a hand at Ashlee impatiently.

"No, not _you_, sorry. I was talking to _her_!" Once again, he pointed reproachfully at Tialuna. The girl smiled innocently, her expression drastically different that the scowl she seemed to permanently wear when they were training, and Grandpa raised an eyebrow at Seth dangerously.

"Why don't you sit down, Seth?" He was using his no-nonsense voice, the one that he used when he was displeased, but in public and unable to do something about it. Conversations around the table continued as normal, and Seth found it odd that nobody was noticing his little stand-off. Normally everybody was so wrapped up in each other's lives that everybody wanted to be involved. Now though…now, it seemed as though the rest of the table was ignoring him, and it wasn't natural.

Seth glared at his mentor, resolving to interrogate her later, in a less occupied setting, and sat down sullenly in the only space available- right across from Tialuna. Kendra sat on his left, across from her mentor, and Warren on his right- typical. Seth's older cousin always chose the seat directly across from Vanessa. The others were seated further down the table- Tanu, Dale, Grandma, Trask, Mara, Elise- and all were seemingly involved in their conversations.

Seth grabbed a plate and unceremoniously dropped a forkful of chicken onto it, choosing to purposefully look away from Tialuna. She wasn't supposed to _be _here. This was his house, his place of safety! If she started coming here, what other place was there for him to go to get away from her and everybody else?

Warren caught his eye as Seth took a large bowl of mashed potatoes from him. Silvery hazel met dark green, and Seth saw the wordless question in his older cousin's eyes- _what's going on?_

Seth shrugged one shoulder carefully, making sure to not let his grandfather or mentor see him, and made a face that said quite clearly- _Hell if I know. _Warren indicated an agreement, then underhandedly gestured at Seth to take his portion of the platters of food that were coming his way. Voices blended together around him, laughing and talking, and the movements of Seth's friends and family was a distracting blur in his peripheral vision, but he grabbed the spoon to the mashed potatoes and started scooping some out onto his plate. Warren shifted slightly, moving closer to talk to Seth, and the younger one leaned forward to hear what his cousin had to say.

"Your grandfather's been acting really strange lately…have you done anything that would make him do this?" Warren whispered, grabbing a roll and biting into it. Seth pushed away the mashed potatoes and pulled a bowl of applesauce towards him.

"I was five minutes late from practice today…and he might have gotten a little angry with me for it. He thought I was off fraternizing with the enemy- can you believe that?" Seth whispered back, disdain dripping from his words. Warren hummed thoughtfully.

"Apparently he did…I agree with you though, getting angry over five minutes is a bit much. And, just so you know- he came over to us earlier- me, Nessa, Tanu, and the others- and told us to not interact with you unless you asked us a direct question for the next few days. He said not to tell you anything about that, but I thought that something had to be going on. In my perspective, that's overkill for being _five _minutes late."

Seth shifted in his seat angrily at Warren's admission. "That's overkill for _everything_! That'll just make me a_ngry _more than anything, not teach me a lesson!"

Warren nodded surreptitiously, handing Seth a roll to take. "The point is, what is it that he wants to accomplish by distancing us from your life? There's always a bigger purpose behind everything your grandfather does, so what will isolating you from your friends mean in the bigger picture?"

Seth had no answer to that.

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><p>The rest of dinner passed without a hitch after Seth and Warren's secret conversation. After what Warren had told him about himself, Tanu, and Vanessa having orders to not talk to him directly, Seth could see through the façade. Vanessa and Tanu kept throwing him apologetic glances and meaningful looks, while Trask, Elise, and Mara would watch him cautiously when they thought he wasn't looking. Warren said nothing else to Seth throughout the meal other than a few simple things- "How did training go? It's a nice day out, isn't it?"<p>

Seth was lost. Not that confused type of lost where he knew subconsciously that something was wrong but couldn't place his finger on it- he was wandering blindly in this new situation, knowing that something was wrong; something that he had to fix, but _nobody would tell him what it was._ He said barely anything, eating mechanically and listening in on other people's conversations, but his eyes were blank, his head spinning.

"So, Seth. What did you learn today?"

Seth started, glancing up and over at his grandfather, who was looking at him expectantly.

"What?"

"You must have learned something. Tialuna's been telling me all about your progress."

Seth glanced at the girl, who was watching him emotionlessly. She moved her plate to the side slightly, propping her elbow on the table, and leaned her chin in her hand, her eyes never leaving his.

Seth stared at her, then back at his grandfather. Warren was tense next to him, obviously listening in to the conversation even though he was talking to Tanu and Vanessa, and Seth looked once more back at his mentor. Her expression was a mixture of amusement and exasperation, and she glanced down once, quickly, at the arm that was holding her up.

It clicked, and Seth's head turned once more to address his grandfather.

"Elbows."

Grandpa Sorenson blinked, obviously having not expected that. "Excuse me?"

"Offensive maneuvers using a sword are best accomplished using a combination of quick strikes and keeping elbows close to the body and bent. Speed and agility equals out to winning a fight if used properly, and the velocity of your movements can easily be used to turn the power and momentum of your opponent against him, as brute strength can be considered unhelpful and potentially destructive if not used wisely."

The _exact_ words that Tialuna had taught him earlier that day spilled out of Seth's mouth, weaving together in an intelligent manner. Normally his thoughts were unconnected and all over the place, leading to his words being jumpy and displaced when he spoke them. Now, whether it was his frame of mind or simply the events that had happened over the past few hours, the phrases that he voiced were smooth, flowing soundlessly together like water in a river. And yet, even as the words combined themselves together, flawless and composed in nature, his thoughts were detached, spinning wildly in contemplation and disbelief.

Grandpa Sorenson stared at him, completely silent as he processed the impassive tone of his grandson's voice. Tialuna watched him, her only expression a slight raise to her eyebrows, and Kendra, who was sitting next to him, gaped in utter disbelief.

"Why are you all smart sounding?" she demanded, her tone betraying her shock. Seth looked at her.

"Why are you all stupid sounding?" he retorted, and Kendra, almost imperceptibly, relaxed back into her chair.

"That's better. I was worried for a second there."

"What, that I might be smarter than you?"

"No, that you were sick or something. Do you even understand what you were saying?" Kendra asked, her eyes skeptical. Grandpa Sorenson leaned forward, resting his chin in his hand, and regarded Seth sternly.

"Yes, Seth, _did_ you understand what you were saying? Or were you simply quoting the words of your mentor?"

"Um…both."

"Both?" Grandpa prodded, his expression clearly demanding an elucidation. Seth stared at him right back, feeling more than slightly uncomfortable. As much as he liked being the center of attention, he didn't enjoy being a test subject, or being questioned for his intellectual capabilities. Seth sighed, hoping to get the conversation over with as soon as possible.

"Yeah. Tialuna told me all that, but I get what she was saying when she said it. Is there a problem with quoting people when you understand what they're saying?"

Grandpa shook his head slowly, his eyes never leaving Seth's, and Seth looked down at his hands resting in his lap. What had gone wrong here? He'd been so prepared for a fight, or at least for an argument regarding his lateness from practice earlier that day, but Grandpa hadn't even brought anything up.

Seth glared at his mentor. If she hadn't shown up, none of this would have happened.

Dessert came out then, and Seth lost track of his anger as soon as the cake swirled with cream and jelly came in his vision. The rest of the meal passed quickly, with nobody else speaking to him except for when he asked for seconds, and his raging emotions calmed down into a much more rational view on life. The adults at the table talked for another hour or so, laughing and eating and recalling old memories from times long past, and as the sun set outside and the darkness trickled in, he grew more and more tired.

A hand on his shoulder startled him awake, and Seth shot up and out of his seat with a yelp.

"Holy MONKEYS! …Oh. Hi Warren."

The older man watched him incredulously, and Seth could have sworn that he saw Tialuna crack a smile out of the corner of his eye. Grandpa was deeply engrossed in a conversation with Grandma, and didn't even notice Seth's outburst. Figures.

"Monkeys, Seth?"

"Yeah."

"…Right. So. You awake?"

Seth glared, resisting the urge to yawn.

"You tell me. What time is it anyways?"

"A little past eleven. You up for meeting me, 'Nessa and Tanu later on?"

Seth turned his full attention to his older cousin, raising an eyebrow. "How much later? For what?"

"We'll be outside early this morning, probably around five or so. We were going to…talk about some things."

Ah. Discussing the reason for Seth's impromptu seclusion. Wonderful. Seth mentally cringed at the thought of waking up so early, and sighed. He really did want to know what was going on that involved him, and he wasn't going to get answers from anyone else. He knew that everybody around the table- Tanu, Vanessa, Trask, Elise, Mara- were all confused about what was happening that concerned him. The only difference between Vanessa, Warren, and Tanu versus the others was that Seth had grown close enough to them for them to feel bad about the situation.

"Yeah, I'll be there. And one of you better have coffee." He mumbled. Warren grinned, glancing over at Grandpa Sorenson to make sure that he wasn't seeing their discussion.

"Don't tell Stan about this…"

Seth groaned. More secrecy. This was just…peachy.

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry about this being kind of a filler chapter…I just wanted to get something out before everybody got annoyed and decided to abandon me forever. I'll be writing as much as I can, but finals are coming up, and schools a bit hectic, so…it's kind of a little boring right now…sorry about that, but I promise the action will pick up soon. Right now, my brain has decided to take a vacation, so I'll have to search for it later…anyways, tell me what you think about it-the next chapter will have a bit of an eye-opener for you people, explaining what's going on here… Anyways, you see that button? It's waiting for you.<strong>

**And, to my lovely reviewers without their PM's activated:**

_**sheldon2.0- Thanks again for commenting! You're becoming one of the regulars…for which you are purely awesome. Seth will still be immature, don't worry- he wouldn't be Seth without it. You're welcome for the author notes thing- I respond to everybody's review regardless of their PM's. Tialuna? Well, you'll see what she is…bwahahaha. As for the rocks, I've sort of come up with an idea for them, but I'll see where they fit in…and your idea is amazing, so I'll figure out what to do with it and how it fits in. Keep up the advice, seriously! Not enough people give it to me… Thank you for sparing me because of my late-ness…I promise it won't happen again without really, really good reason!**_

**Right…so, that takes care of everything, I think! Review please, and tell me what you liked, what you didn't like, what you want to see happen, what didn't make sense, what ideas you have for me…seriously, I'll respond to everybody that reviews, unless they tell me not to. I can answer questions, or take constructive criticism, or whatever you write out for me, so PLEASE REVIEW!**


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